Death Among the Stars Quest 34GraveQM!OAW/XsPFOk02/18/16(Thu)18:21:13No.45501608

Winged Osjiic fighters duel with Ahkam teardrop fighters, tearing through each other like a cannibalistic school of piranha as the leviathans of the sub-capitols and capitols fight around them. The battle was fierce over the surface of the Osjiic factory world, Ahkam zealots fighting fiercely to avenge their fallen demi-god believing the void powered imperialists to be the murderers.

Your Eyegore watches from beyond the system as the skies of the desert world turn bright with the burning debris of broken ships entering the atmosphere. Bright lances of void-light reach out from the surface, the powerful anti-orbital weapons cutting through sub-capitols with ease before they are reduced to smoking craters from the battlecruisers hull mounted gun. The capitol ship was bloodied yet still fighting fiercely.

The vaguely insectoid sub-light craft gathered from the Ahkam worshipers swarm like true insects, weapons ripping en masse through the hulls of the osjiic craft they engulfed. The airwaves were a tumultuous symphony of screaming, shouting, prayers and orders, your Eyegore doing it's best to sift through the myriad of signals.

The Osjiic and Ahkam were locked tight in combat, the two empires once again at each others throats but this time guided by your unseen hand. You wonder just how much longer your guidance would remain unseen and undiscovered. When the time came for you to reveal yourself, you know it will shake the foundations of power within this area of the galaxy.

Soon the New Necrotic Armada would make itself known and the Conquering Worm will step out into the galactic light.

Completed Research:>Lightning Rod: With the increasing battles against the Ahkam and their habit of using electricity and lightning as a weapon your Think Tank has a stroke of inspiration derived from the old lightning rods used at Agona's fortress on the perpetually stormy moon of the Lavafather

>Advanced Cyborg: A nimble and sophisticated enemy the Advanced Cyborg has a complete metal armor covering their body while not hampering their speed. They seem to fight with increased intelligence than the standard and shoddy models you've already encountered.

>Vaporizer Weapon: The weapon the Advanced Cyborgs carried was a prototype being developed and tested in the facility. A short-ranged but highly destructive blast of heat and overcharged energy is built up then fired. Living up to its name it flash-boils and disintegrates flesh, metal and plasteel with ease.

>>45501733(Turns out I must watch my niece for a bit. I wish people would tell me these things before showing up on my doorstep lol. Thread slightly delayed, sorry Feel free to plot and plan though)

Unlocked:Lightning Rod: An inspired mix of the Conductive Armor and Arc Weaponry technology has lead to a mod for ships. Several large highly conductive metal rods jut from the hull of the ship with the intent to attract electrical and lightning based attacks. The rods are struck by the attack and channel it to the base, dispersing the charge along the conductive armor of the ships hull. Absorbed strikes can be stored instead to increase the firing speed of Lightning Cannon weapons. Cost: 30B 40M

Sprinter Legs: A specialized adaptation that configures a units legs into an ideal shape for speed and enhanced with a mix of dense muscle and metallic threads. The lighter the Reconstructed the faster they will be but even heavy units will still benefit from bursts of increased speed. Cost: 5B

NID-Neural Interface Device: A cruel and deadly device it nonetheless has great information gathering potential. A series of long metal probes cover the inside curve of a bone plate, these probes drill through flesh and bone inserting themselves into the brain of a target. These probes can drain the knowledge of a living target at the cost of their life, allowing a Think Tank to pick through their memories. The NID works on the recently deceased if their brain is fresh enough and unharmed though if attached to a living target it causes severe pains, uncontrollable muscle spasms and the eventual breakdown of the brain.

Vaporizer: Similar to the Necroflenser and Necrotic Flayer the Vaporizer charges a powerful blast of Necrotic energy unleashing it in a highly destructive yet short range wave. Extremely damaging it has the capability of reducing a target to a charred skeleton if struck point-blank.

Well, the looms just a lot more horrifying. you can just see them, moving through a captured ship, consuming the minds of the living and the dead. Maybe we whould produce a think-tank loom hybrid as a sort of hivemind synapse creature, that can coordinate many other lesser looms for more efficent mind harvesting.

now we have a necrotic laser shotgun, could we do something similar to HHQ with subdividing troop orders according to purpose.Say a boarding unit made up of x Sprinter Talonsy Vaporizer Stingersz Shock Troopersor a scouting party ofx Gargoyles (2:1 normal:flatbody)y Shadows

>>45501795Suggestion, could we try and make NID an acceptable part of funeral traditions in our domains, so as to mitigate the loss of any potential delicious knowledge while also trying into our whole 'things die, but they also live on' philosophy

>>45501795The famine on Rukor has been abated with the timely intervention of the Armatocere relief efforts distributed by the Armada. The ructu have small subdued celebrations as they sample and enjoy the alien food alongside the now familiar kelp and eel. Word quickly spreads through the villages about how it was how the slayers of the Ahkam that brought this bounty and allowing them to survive the rough season. As they sleep their dreams are restless, fleeting visions of their world and the system around them drifting through their minds. The dreamstone obelisks slowly connecting their subconscious minds to yours though the connection was fresh and weak. Over time they would come to see you in their waking hours, their dreams yours to warp as they sleep.

As the plainsrunners continued their pilgrimage Red-Leaf-Strains allows one of the Gargoyles to rest on her shoulder. The winged serpant tilting its head to look curiously at the young osogo clustered around them staring at the Reconstructed. Once again they find a carepackage of food, armatocere fruit crops wrapped in Horizon's Drop kelp, the large mammals enjoying the selection of food as they marched and followed the Gargoyle sailing above. A young osogo shouts and points to a single Cyclops perched on a nearby cliff, its large red eye watching them as it's skin ripples in the sunlight.

The Beast was becoming less of a natural corpse and more of the greatest Reconstructed yet created. Large portions of it's once pliable flesh is now heavy and thick plates of armor, tentacles becoming segmented and armored with over-sized weapons placed at the ends. Missile pods and shields are transported from the protoplanet shipyards and surgically installed into the bioship. The Think Tank at its core becoming a part of it as it guides the transformation.

>>45503333On Horizon's Drop the Stonestar tunnels have been completed and opened to the traitor stonestar refugees. They come in bloat carriers and move into the maze of tunnels, herding their livestock, their young and their old. The tunnels had everything to house and keep them healthy. The appropriate humidity maintained and a natural underground spring the mining had discovered further down rerouted to provide water for the residents and to maintain several fungal-lichen farms. There were even areas where the Stonestars could request items they required from simplified Talon units.

On the Lavafathers moon the first of the completed obsidianborn corvettes is finished, the black stone and dark metal hull lost in the clouds as it raced for space. The Obsidianborn at its core barely contains its delight as it begins to travel the system with a guard of Nails. Stonestar stand on its bridge and watch the screens enraptured with their pioneer voyage into true space travel. After sometime flying over Rukor the corvette charges it's Skip Drive and a flash later it appears over the Scorched World in Horizon's Drop.

The Ahkam and Osjiic tear each other apart in various systems, goaded by your subterfuge. You track their fleets as they finally retreat back to their own systems, the crippled ships left behind detonating themselves to avoid capture from both sides.

Nothing but silence. Silence for a moment. Silence for an eternity. Nothing is heard, nothing is seen, nothing is felt, nothing is thought. A living being, but just barely, is housed in a personal sanctuary of peace and ignorance.A blade is thrust into this bubble of stillness, nearly killing its occupant if not for the precision of whomever wields this blade. The blade cuts through the barrier to this sanctuary, a straight line from the top of the device to the base. Strange liquids, swirling colors of all types, flow through this incision in the dark green casing. Finally, along with the liquids flows out the device’s sole inhabitant.The young man begins to open his eyes. He is still physically numb, and his eyes too are having trouble adjusting to having use again. He works up the energy to blink a few times. He tries to stand, but decides instead to just get into a more comfortable sitting position.“Good,” came a gravely voice from somewhere in front of the man, “Most try to stand up right away and end up breaking something.” The voice leaned in closer to the man to give him a chance to look upon a face for the first time in what felt like a hundred years. “I know I did.”The man looked around a bit more, but couldn’t see anything more than a few feet in front of him. That was something though. Below him flowed the liquids that just a moment ago he was suspended in. They were spiraling away down a drain not too far away, changing colors with every tile they passed. To his right was the device that he had just come from, or possibly been freed from. A large green blob, emptied of its juices, sat in the middle of a large metal and bone contraption with a glass cover lifted above it by some metal cables. The pod was adorned with an array of lights and more than a few bottles of yet more strange liquids, still half full.His gaze turned to the unfamiliar man in front of him. (1/2)

>>45503555Are there any small outpost systems that we haven't invaded yet? If so, suggest feild-testing our new ground troops and brain extracting, and wipe it off the map, using stolen intel to fuck with the side that owned the outpost

>>45503642He wore a dark metallic armor more of a shell than cover a strange glowing symbol , and a long twisted spear held to his side. He thought he’d attempt speaking, “Where... where am I? And why? Why was I here and.. and why was I in that thing?”"That is an umbra pod. In it you where infused with the dark teachings of our Lord Jydak the Conquering Worm. You seems our lord needs diplomats for his glorious kingdom. He decided to build them. They took those that they had and altered them. We were made faster, stronger, and smarter. We where made to be better than normal men. And our abilities to communicate are unrivaled. We are the cauldron born. We live, we die, we grow for our lord."

"Follow me, I'll show you to your room" the man gestures to a door. "Your new life starts now">>45503625No just a way to flesh out an idea, this one being that altering of some of our living guys in special cauldrons to made great diplomats

>>45504376>>Capture new subjects (from Ructor)It's the only location where we've got enough subjects that one or two can go missing without it being obvious it was us. And if it works, we can claim it was part of our plan to uplift the Ructu.

>>45504561Nekris needs to work on buffing his Arc powers before he can do that, and agona hasn't got any fancy powers bar being dead killy. Tell nekris to start getting swole, and maybe see if we can get some delicious powers from the lavafather for agona

Your once idle ship pylons shudder to life as they begin creating new ships and retrofitting existing ones with new equipment.>10 Support Corvette Completed in 3 turns>5 Boarding Frigates Completed in 3 turns

A message is sent through the Eyegore to the flower-satellite and after nearly an hour Sllrts synthetic voice is sent, "Greetings, you have been quite chatty lately. To what do we owe the pleasure? Already we are making use of your research and hope you are as well."

>>45504862We don't really interfere with our subjects in most cases, outside of the domination spikes but those are mostly used on captured soldiers or when the situation calls for it. And aside from resources we don't demand much of them, even all our necrolytes volunteered to fight for us on their own volition by and large. Objectively speaking we're not really anymore evil than living politicians and leaders.

>>45505013Claiming a character is evil and using that as justification for doing all manner of evil shit is so fucking stupid though. We're playing the morally ambivalent/merciful conquerer for a reason, that reason being that being pointlessly evil when there are alternatives does nothing but antagonize the living we must deal with. How do you think the various factions would react to a powerful enemy who takes no prisoners and singlemindedly crushes everything in his grasp? The exact same thing that happened to the Undying Court. Forces that were once at each other's throats would unite and invest everything they had in destroying us. How do you think our mortal subjects would react to us abducting them and preforming horrific experiments or ignoring them? They would jump at the first opportunity, real or imagined, to escape or overthrow our hold on them. The simple fact of the matter is that a truly evil tyranny is untenable in the long run, particularly when we're in as vulnerable position as the one we are in now.

Of course we're going to do evil things along the path to galactic domination, but only as necessary. As Jadyk himself has so eloquently noted, hope is the single greatest motivating force among the living, and to instill it we must display a certain degree of benevolence to them, both to those we control and those we do not.

>>45504839"A pleasure, Sapling Sllrt. There is something that needs to be addressed and I would rather get this out of the way before it can interfere with future talks. How do the Armatocere as a whole view Necrotic Energy and the use of it?" you ask, knowing this could possibly break diplomatic talks, "You've mentioned necrotic energy and your...aversion to it because of the Sun-Eaters Wraiths."

There is silence over the line for some time until Sllrts voice drones out, "Necrotic Energy is another power source, the same as any other though those that use it are for the most part...unnatural. Yes we've had our run-ins with the Wraiths and other immoral forces using it to their will, including the Confederacy," there is a pause, "If this concerns your creation methods have no fear. We noticed from your ships and your satellite that you use animal biomass in a way that nearly reflects our own methods of using flora and plant-life. For the amounts of biomass needed to create your ships and the fact you have living subjects, we doubt you are stripping worlds of their animal biomass so we must assume you have another way of generating this biomass. At least, this is what our Mentavine have come to assume."

You lean back in your throne clacking your jaw. It was somewhat impressive they could deduce so much from merely observing your Eyegore and the ships sent to trade, "A rather...astute assumption. Rest assured, we have yet to use free-willed biomass on a scale of that size. We have our ways of generating it, yes."

Sllrt's voice rings out, "Yes yes, very good. The Mentavine is quite pleased. They also ask if you have come to trade information or resources once more."

>>45505198m8, you literally just wrote a long ass post that completely backed up the person you were responding to.

Being pragmatically evil does not mean you are not evil. And frankly, it's very clear that we are evil, just based on the actions we've taken since we awoke. And before we were taken down, we were super evil. We've just realised that being less obviously evil is much more effective.

>>45505245>>Talk about something else?"The confederacy? They still employ Necrotic energy? We have had encounters with some of their abandoned research outposts, but those had been absent of anything truly living for centuries. How have you observed the Confederacy employ it before?"

>>45505263Exactly. We do exactly what we have to do to stake our place in the galaxy. Nothing more, nothing less.

>>45505245"The Confederacy still employs Necrotic Energy? We have encountered derelict wrecks and some abandoned outposts that have been empty of all living things except for necrotically fueled cyborgs. How have you observed the Confederacy use it before?" this question had been plaguing you ever since Nekris first found the derelict frigate.

"They still use necrotic fueled cyborgs as their shock troops and secret enforcers. From what we have gathered the typical Confederate citizen has no idea of their use. Some of their ships weapons utilize it along with a potent bomb they seemed to have created solely to deal with our treeships," they say

"How about the Sunscale? We believe them to be the owners of that rumored stone ship with the Ahkam corpse crucified to it's hull from other rumors we have gathered," the Sunscale was one mystery that was starting to grow more worrisome. The Divers had escaped with knowledge of Nekris and his presence on Rukor but they had been oddly silent in their response.

"A reptilian species with a startling array of specialized castes. Each caste seemingly devoted to warfare in it's own ways. Highly religious and devout to nearly a zealot level. We have had mostly cordial encounters with the few we have met. We see more of their influence than of themselves. Primitive worlds willingly starting to worship their dieties after liberation from the Ahkam or relief given during disasters. Several primitive civilizations given the knowledge to improve their worlds and technology though they appear to avoid weaponizing those they aid, unlike the Ahkam or even the Confederacy. Overall they appear to be most concerned with obeying the whims of their gods and their leaders."

You tap your claws together in thought before asking a question that had weighed heavily since your last encounter, "Tell me, have the Armatocere ever encountered the Masked?"

>>45505513Uhh, why don't we hold off until we actually succeed in getting in touch with Akka-Tor. The Armatocere see her as nothing short of pure evil and the enemy of all life everywhere, mentioning we know her might not be beneficial to our diplomatic efforts. One step at a time.

>>45505612There is a long silence and you begin to think that Sllrt had been disconnected before a different voice issues from the flower-satellite, this one deeper and sounding more authoritative, "I trust this line is secure? No one can hear this besides yourself, Lord Jadyk?"

You sit up in your throne and lean forward. You were alone on your bridge and you hardly cared if the Think Tank or Pilots overheard you, "I have yet to meet a race that can listen in on my communications. To whom am I speaking?"

"I am the Eldertree that Sapling Sllrt was cut from. You may call me Ctyr. You speak of the Masked so I assume you have encountered them yourself. We have yet to meet a race that speaks so openly about them," the voice says

"I have indeed and I must assume as well that you have too. They arrive at the most inopportune moments, do they not?" you ask although you already know the answer

"The Masked appear before all great leaders we have learned over time. They were the first to greet us when we awoke on Yggdrasil. Some of the other Eldertrees believe them to be who awoke us in the first place or guided the Seedship to this galaxy. They spoke of games and spectacles. They speak in riddles and act like animal children for their games yet their information is nearly always right if you can decode it," the Eldertree Ctyr spoke with more personality than the Sapling, "Beware of the Masked. They see everything and do not appreciate being spoken of. They are vain entities and we have only evidence of their anger occurring once," a set of far-off coordinates appear then, "That system was once a bustling collection of worlds overseen by a merchant empire that traded with all factions. See for yourself what remains."

>Anything you would like to clarify/ask them more?>What would you like to trade?

>>45505807With the Advanced System Sensor built in the Bastion system you redirect the idle Eyegore to the set of far-off coordinates and it disappears with it's Void Drive into the distance.

Turning your attention back to the Armatocere, "Thank you for the information. These Masked have been quite...interesting."

"I must return you to Sapling Sllrt. There are matters I must tend to. It was good to speak with you myself, Jadyk. May our people continue to be on peaceful terms," Eldertree Ctyr's voice drones off before Sllrt's reappears

"Sorry for the interruption. The Eldertree wished to speak with you personally. Now, was there anything else you wished to discuss?"

"Come with an offer for trade, a simple one this time recently gained. A tool to aid in defending against the Ahkam, should you be interested," you send the barest of information and the Armatocere are silent for a few moments before they reply with a counteroffer

Armatocere offering:>Advanced Ship Grapnel - This would complete your Ship Grapnel research and from your Think Tank can decipher from the sampled data it would be stronger than what your research would've presented

>>45506242Unlocked:>Advanced Ship Grapnel - Similar in function to your Sting Whip but on a much larger scale, the Advanced Ship Grapnel launches a specialized barb at an enemy ship. This barb is a combination of dense metal and smart-materials that once puncturing a ships hull spreads out much like a root system into the ships hull and skeletal support structure itself to prevent shearing and tearing free. Replacing turret mounts a ship gains a bonus for each grapnel attached to an enemy ship. Attached ships can get an automatic hit with boarding pods or other weaponry. Can be used to haul object much like the Tractor Beam but the object must be held firmly against the ship and cannot direct the object like the tractor beam can. Cost: 15B 20M

>>45506939Don't be stupid Graves, do you remember how long and how highly trafficked the last thread was? This is just a peril of running a quest on a weekday, we take longer to post our votes and occasionally need to step away to take care of stuff.

The other primary reason we're taking so long to pick a course of action (at least in my case) is that we are having a kind of hard time selecting the ideal one. That first vote we got tied with each other for so many options we started waiting to see which votes built up enough support to prevent that happening again. It's not like we're hesitating from posting because we don't like how you're running this quest. Seriously, this quest is awesome and keep getting better, don't be so hard on yourself man.

>>45506969I like where you're going, but perhaps we should use smaller numbers of our undisguised ships. This is a sneaking mission and we're still trying to remain hidden from the powers that be. Sending 100 undisguised and uncloaked ships to an enemy planet is a huge risk.

It was time to truly test out your newest reconstructed. The Looms were unblooded and eager for action, the color-changing creatures slithering from their holes and crevasses with several Shadows to board a support coffin resting on boarding claws and specially retrofitted with a Void Drive. A pair of Piercing Nail wait, ready to dock to the FTL-capable ship to piggy back a ride.

Shadows and Looms both came equipped with paralytic venomglands for their cluster sting whips and the Shadows carried Bola launchers, one with a thumper strapped to it's lower back with an array of grenades. The small craft wraps itself in a bubble of distorted light and disappears into the distance rapidly.

Several hours after they departed a pair of your Dagger disguised frigates rumble to life, awakened from their hibernation in the depths of Horizon's Drops moon. They spool their skip drive and disappear with a flash.

Your Eyegore overwatching the space city flinches at the sudden flashes only a kilometer from the mini-satellite floating among space debris. The decoy ships unleash their weapons, blaster fire streaking across the void to strike the corvette and frigate, their hull mounted spine cannons launching ferrous slugs trailed by missiles. The Osjiic craft turn to react to their sudden attackers, weapons fire exchanged between the heavily armored but slow ships and the faster but weaker frigates.

Turrets from the space city are turned to the frigates, auto-cannons clearly overtaken by the Osjiic turning to fire after the Frigates. With the defenders and space city defenses otherwise occupied with the injured frigates they seem not to notice the minute flash of light as the support coffin and nails appear half a kilometer below the space city.

>>45507646>With the defenders and space city defenses otherwise occupied with the injured frigates they seem not to notice the minute flash of light as the support coffin and nails appear half a kilometer below the space city.Smooth and quiet.

>>45507646Connected to the surface of the rocky planet by a space elevator the space city seemed to once be a mining and trading outpost until the Osjiic arrived. The nails quickly detach from the coffin and the trio of ships angle themselves up towards the city.

One of the Dagger Frigates is struck by a Void-Screamer weapon from the Light Cruiser and the beam of potent energy sunders the craft breaking it to pieces. The other Frigate fires a salvo of it's weapon and manages to destroy the corvette before it is mortally wounded by the Osjiic frigate, a barrage of missile destroying the engines and preventing escape. Detonation charges spread through the ship go off, the craft erupting into a ball of flame.

The Osjiic ships return to their posts, the injured frigate tended to by drones sent by the space city and Osjiic dropships go to salvage the remains of the broken corvette and the shrapnel that remained of the Dagger decoys. During the small skirmish the trio of ships have managed to dock themselves clinging to the bottom of the city, the support coffin mounting itself over an airlock for refuse shuttles.

Boarding claws reach out and pry open the airlock, bending the metal and plasteel back before sealing itself against he depressurized airlock. The Looms and Shadows emerge and after the coffin creates a temporary seal with layer of muscled flesh they slip into the darkened space city, their skins rippling to mimic the grays of the lightless hallways.

The air was stale yet held the distinct scent of rot and decay, of necrotic and void energy both. A human scream echoes down the hall followed by a burst of gunfire then silence once more.

>>45507889>>45507943We really need to take advantage of our horrifying units and abilities to sow terror and chaos in population centers. We need to get a sizable amount of troops and a cauldron onto a hostile controlled planet and begin 'disappearing' military and civilian targets alike.

The custom equipment for stonestars made me think. Can't we have racial equipment for each of the races we have fighting for us? Specifically adjusted for the strengths and weaknesses of each race.This could be a tech topic.

In fact, why don't we go even further and have custom equipment adjusted for each and every necrolyte? We have amazing advantage over other races that it would not be prohibitively expensive for us to do so, actually it wont cost a thing. Just give a couple of cauldrons and think tanks to the nercolyte legion and the troops can personally request upgrades during downtime. Hell, let each and every soldier choose whatever load-out they desire. It is of no cost to us.

And now for a silly suggestion. Why don't we equip them all with medium exoskeleton with advanced jump-packs? This would cost 5210B and 7815M (The price of almost 10 battlescruisers LMAO), but would be extremely badass. The aesthetic for the soldiers should be simple so that the officers are distinguished.

OP, can we use the completed research on Advanced Cyborg to develop Advanced exoskeleton?

>tl;dr:>Suggested research topics: custom equipment, advanced exoskeleton>Top-tier equipment for all necrolytes at the cost of 5210B and 7815M

>>45504862>Our citizens live in luxuryDo they? I thought the life on the colony stayed more of the same after we took over.

OP, can you clarify what the standard of living is? How has over dominance affected the daily lives of the colonists?Should we try to improve it (medical standards, living, luxury, etc.) or will that all be covered once the capitol city is finished. I assume we will move all of the residents there once we're done.

>10 Herds: 190B, Hunting outposts: 150BDo these strain our colonists? At this point we have no need for herds or outposts. We could give them over to the colonists (and this would make the stat post less cluttered)

>>45508961Honestly, I think the reason why the Stonestar got custom equipment is because they aren't humanoid bipedal aliens. So to actually protect them correctly, they needed armor and gear that accommodated their unique biology.

>>45509013I thought it would be like a passive upgrade for the whole legion. If it adds crunch then I'm against it.

The maximum amount of crunch I anticipate it would have is separate research topic for each race. But more realistically it would be just a simple research topic after which our entire legion would get boost in all stats including morale.

>>45510409or an alternative, when it detonates it scatters Dream stones, so we can influence the populace, perhaps converting them making them form hidden cults to help us overthrow or sabotage the current powers that be.

especially if we can perfect the cauldron born that would be a good selling point, who wants to live forever?

>>45510409It'll be fun to use against the confederacy, with their secret use of nectrotic energy, any lingering traces will be discounted as goverment shadowrunning. hell, they'll probably clean up afterwards

>>45509214I think I could allow a research project into improving the Necrolyte equipments ergonomic design. With the advanced Cauldrons it would be an easy task of a necrolyte to go up to a Cauldron and request whatever gear they need and made to fit.

>>45508961Right now legionnaires are mostly simple exosuits with the officers and elite troops using the medium. Advanced exosuits are a little beyond your capabilities at the moment.

>>45508667That stuff was going to be taken care of later today once off work. Sorry, didn't mean to ignore it. I'll also adjust the excavators stats to reflect some of the recent advancements you've made.

>>45511929Jadyk once did his best to subdue individuality or improper behavior in his Reconstructed. Now he let's them develop "naturally" and is secretly surprised by their behaviors but finds it fascinating.

I would like to think that the behavioral patterns in Jadyk's Necrotic-creations would shift and change his beliefs on the nature of life and death even more than the millennia inside a stone box did.

Hell, maybe one day we'll experiment by taking a dead planet and making an entirely "Natural" Necro-based ecosystem on it, completely separate from his control and guidance. Wouldn't that be exciting? To see the stable mutations and the structure of a wild necrotic ecosystem?

>>45511775Well one of the pictures Grave's posted while he's describing Osijics is of a bald, flat-faced, dark grey-skinned humanoid. Based off that, my own mental picture of Agona is a buff desaturated Tau without the face-slit, who might be mistaken for a male by human standards. Wide-set, irisless eyes, thin-lipped wide mouth, wide round face with no nose.

>>45509008Currently their lives are much the same. They occasionally mourn those lost when you took the colony and turned them into reconstructed but they've continued their jobs and lives mostly unchanged.

The former miners have taken up other jobs or "retired" since their release. Buddy for instance has become a brewer and drug chemist. While others aid the herds, small farms, and standard town maintenance.

They are fairly pampered, only needing to ask a passing Reconstructed for items from a Cauldron or to pass a message to the folks in orbit still. They're starting to grow more accustomed to the whole situation.

The Osjiic and Daggers still at the hunting outposts have been becoming disgruntled and rather bored but they keep up their duty even as the snowstorms worsen with the season.

Once the capitol is completed the living will have all their base needs provided. Food will be plentiful as well as homes/apartments. There is even room for the smaller of their farm animals like chickens, pigs, smaller tame versions of cliffjumpers, to live comfortably.

Jadyk is hoping this city (still needs a proper name) will put the colonists, necrolytes, stonestar, plainsrunners, ructu and any other future subjects at ease and show the the benefits of service to the New Necrotic Armada

>>45513845 How about 'The Wormsong Spires'A proper place to rebirth the worship of the Wormstar, and it's avatar. perhaps integrate dreamtone into it's structure, so that we may better bend our future worshipers to our will.

Guys, we might be able to convince the plant guys to help us spread the necro kelp.

We tell them exactly what it does, then explain that because we are an ally the spreading of our influence would benefit them as well and ensure greater peace.

This is of course after we have better relations with them.

Also once we figure out the combined skip and void drive (I'm calling it the dark drive because no matter how fast light is, wherever it goes, it folds the dark already there waiting for it) We could trade the tech to the plant gents but also set up a more permanent trade deal because they would need us to make the sheets of void infused bone that the void part of the drive needs

Suggestions on a new unit made to explore and excavate ancient sights like the one the crystal thing was guarding (we never found what it was guarding, we assume it was there to stop us if we ever broke out of our cell but seeing as the crystal was on another planet I think it was guarding something else)

Take an eyegor and switch out long range sight for Rock sonar, X-ray, and anything else that might help. Add a tractor beam to help it move things, and a large thinktank to run it.

It is to study and find every trace and detail of who built the prisons, how they did it, any clues as to where others might be and so on and so forth. Our cell it too changed by resent events to be worth studying much, but we can ask the lavafather about his cell and where it was

Really guys the ancient prisons are a significant thread left unchecked.

Another idea, once we start using tractor beams to mass mining the meteor belt and the asteroid belt we can expect to harvest 4 different types of material, those being Metal, rock, ice, and frozen gasWe know what to do with the metal but the rock gas and ice need to be figured out.

One thing we could do is just throw it all together and make a new planet but that seems wistful.

We could try to filter the frozen gas into useful material and use or sell it

It's possible we could use the rock and probably a bunch of other stuff to eventually make a new home for the lava father

If grave is willing we could refine the rock and gas even more to get fertilizer material that we could use or sell

Or include in the refining process the take out rare and strong magnetic materials we can use for... Something

The ice we could use to terraform dead worlds into massive kelp farms

Lastly and this is a long shot we could take the ice, rock, frozen gas, and the necrotic acid that our undead cows leak, and any and all waist material necrotic or otherwise into a big ball somewhere and begin the formation of a truly necrotic ecosystem. A planet of the thriving dead

Although... We could add a new thing to they game. Generic trade commodity points. A simple point system for measuring the production of trade goods or sellable materials.Seeing as we have a trade partner now it would be a good way of having an I game currency and keeping it simple

So we left off with our intrepid Looms and Shadows beginning their very first stealth and abduction mission. With the sacrifice of two Dagger Frigate Decoys your reconstructed were able to sneak on board the Confederate space city currently under control of the Osjiic. They were sent with the intent of investigating the situation as well as abducting living test subjects for your experiments.

>>45519889Stick to the shadows, no need to draw attention. Grab anyone, if you find a scientist or military officers even better Grab as many as you can and them get the hell out! We don't want them to have any idea we where here in the first place

>>45520103It takes about five minutes for full extraction but only a minute or two for recent memories if you're in a hurry. A Think Tank brought along on the Support Coffin will be able to download the information and beam it back to the other Think Tanks in their network.

>>45519889Sneak and search for clues and potential test subjects.Roll me 3d100 best of first 3 pls

I was thinking that a long term project we could set up with the Armatocere is enlisting their help in designing an entire biosphere that can passively generate necrotic energy and funnel it toward us. Imagine an entire forest of plants that technically die once a season and give off massive amounts of easily harvestable Necrotic energy. They spread their seeds and later on revive themselves to an extant, and continue an existence not unlike our catoblepas, mimicking the processes of the living in a state of undeath.

Such an ecosystem could sustain itself and expand on it's own, and would passively grow our already vast well of Necrotic energy the same way as creating new troops does. How feasible is this Graves?

>>45520358I imagined it as really simple thing that is basically a means of improving our ties with the Armatocere while giving Jyoti a way of explaining how Jadyk gets so powerful so quickly. More of a fluff than a crunch thing.

>>45520182Deciding to investigate the screams and gunfire the reconstructed move through the dark corridors, emergency lights flashing at regular intervals along the way. The Looms floated a foot from the ground or walls walking along their manipulater tentacles as their large eyes sweep the dark corridors, the Shadows drifting along the low-gravity with skipping steps. None of the reconstructed make a sound, their color changing skin dark and ripples grays and blacks to break up their silhouettes in the darkness.

It wasn't long before they find evidence of combat, bullet-holes and blaster scorchmarks dotting the walls. It appeared they were down in the maintenance areas, water dripping down from the walls and ceiling to pool along the floor in jiggling masses in the low gravity. The Looms could smell the blood of humans, vorh, osjiic, kesh, netu, among others, the barbs of their sting whips twitching excitedly.

Suddenly they could hear heavy footsteps and gruff Osjiic voices and the Looms quickly flatten themselves on the ceiling as the Shadows tuck themselves into nooks and doorways in the hallway. A pair of Osjiic soldiers turns a corner into the corridor and march their way. One drags a lifeless human behind them while looking over the carbine dwarfed in their hand and mumbling about the human's "toy" while the other holds an appropriately sized rifle and scans the dark hallway with their eyes hidden behind a green visor.

They wore no helmets and that was their downfall, Looms dropping silently to drift behind them for several meters without the gray skinned hominids noticing them. The Looms seemed to enjoy the notion they were so close yet unseen but they knew they were on a mission. There were startled gasps from the Osjiic as cluster sting whips bury their barbs into the back of their necks and they collapse to the ground as paralytic venom courses through them.

>>45520795As one Osjiic is dragged into a janitorial closet the other is hauled to the coffin for the Think Tanks experiments. The eyes of the paralyzed Osjiic dart in a panic between the creatures clustered around it, it's heart beat pounding as a Loom drifts close and reaches out with a tentacle holding a NID. There is a faint whine as the probes small drills burrow through flesh then bone before inserting themselves into the gray matter.

The Osjiic twitches even through it's paralysis as their eyes roll back into their skull, the Think Tank draining it of it's memories and knowledge. Rifler Gurn, a grunt of the Osjiic Empire and proud soldier for the Emperor. The Think Tank learns the Osjiic desired the resources of the mining world with rumors of some secondary objective hidden somewhere on planet. They had struck the mining facility, crushing the small picket fleet and prevent escape and warning the Confederacy. Small pockets of resistance fighters existed on both the planet and space city making life for the occupying Osjiic hell.

That is until a few days ago when power was cut to most of the station and soldiers started to disappear. The guerillas were believed to be to blame until they found a group of them pinned to the walls by bolts of metal alongside several of their missing soldiers. Gurn had been part of the patrol that found the gruesome discovery, one of the greener grunts turning to void their stomach of the mornings protein gruel.

From the memories of the grunt you learn the general layout of the city. Management and the power reactor for the station were in the center of the city above the anchor to the space elevator. There were several living and processing districts comprising the bulk of the city along with a hydroponics wing and a hangar bay where the Osjiic have set up their command base.

>>45521003Using the knowledge of the Osjiic the Looms and Shadows disappear into the tunnels once more, keen eyes and senses pried for anything. The corpse of Gurn is left behind in the closet to rot, the valuable room of the Coffin needed for the living.

Splitting up with one group heading for the areas where the unfortunate Osjiic knew of guerrilla activity the others make their way to where the Osjiic were keeping the locals captive.

To avoid patrols of Osjiic the Looms squeeze themselves down and slip into ventilation ducts with the Shadows dragged behind by a pair of tentacles.

Following the scent of living beings the Looms quickly track down a group of guerrillas comprised of several humans, vorh and a netu making their way down a narrow side-corridor quickly carrying rifles and blasters. Slipping from the ducts a pair of Looms trail after the single-file group, their cluster sting whips dropping three of them from the rear, tentacles catching them and their weapons before they fell noisily and dragging them into the ducts. When the group realized they were short three they begin to whisper frantically and break into a run, a human running backwards with a panicked expression as they disappear.

The other group peer through the grate of the ventilation duct at a group of Confederate captives sitting in a too small conference room in the office district. Twelve of them, mostly human, sit around and speak in subdued tones to avoid the ire of the Osjiic guards stand just outside. Several wore white labcoats similar to the corpses found in the research facility with a handful in military jumpsuits. A scarred Kesh speaks with a pair of humans and a netu about a possibility of escape but they had little fight with.

>>45521318This group, if you could transport them back to the coffin, would be enough to begin your tests but were they worth the effort of getting the around the guards and convincing them to follow your stealth units.

>Break out captives>Ignore and search for more stragglers>Hunt Osjiic>Search for mysterious attackers>Other

>>45521482How about this. We now know the chane of command here right? We also know who has the right codes to order an emergency evacuation of all captives not just the ones in that room onto a single ship asap.

So we find the guy with the codes and get them, then order the evacuation then grab the ship

>>45521910What are you talking about anon. We take the best of three no matter which specific row they come from. There have been plenty of times in this quest where a single 3d100 roll provided all the rolls counted.

>>45521697Using the knowledge gained from Gurn your Looms and Shadows disappear once more into the ventilation system. There was an Osjiic officer that held the codes needed to order an emergency evacuation supposedly stationed near the main reactor core. Slipping through the vents they search for their target.

They pass Osjiic patrols and several guerrillas laying in wait, ignoring them for their prize. The main reactor area was guarded by Osjiic guards at nearly all entrances but for the creatures made for stealth it was no problem to slip in unseen. Workers both Osjiic and native confederates work to repair the sabotaged reactor. There were multiple computer banks smashed and riddled with bullet holes but from what you gather from overheard conversations the reactor was deactivated safely before the systems were sabotaged to prevent all but the barest of life-control and orbital lift from being turned back on. Whoever had sabotaged the city knew how to prevent the reactor from going critical and detonating.

Spotting the Osjiic in question, an older officer with their armor scarred from frequent battles, talking with a group of osjiic and confederate workers. Officer Ruk commanding them to get the reactor working again before the next day cycle or there would be consequences. Several of the captives tried to protest but a soldier smacks one with the butt of the rifle and they fall over coughing. Dismissing the others the officer turns to depart with a group of three of other Osjiic on their way to the hangar bay and the command center there.

>>45522497Shadows slip from the ventilation ducts, their feet landing silently on the ground as the follow after the group. Traveling along a dark hallway they were tense with weapons held in hand ready for an attack at any moment. One of them glances back behind them, sweeping the corridor with a flashlight on their rifle the beam of light passing over a Shadow pressed tight against a wall among a stack of pipes but doesn't notice the Reconstructed with its skin the same color and texture as the wall.

Looms wait ahead, sting whip barbs quivering in wait at the grates for the Osjiic to pass below but there was a sudden disturbing of the air and the scent of something Necrotic. From small access panel the Osjiic pass bursts forth a pair of humanoids that rush faster than many you've seen.

The Osjiic shout and get a few rounds off, the muzzle-flash illuminating a pair of humanoids wrapped in cloth and mismatched pieces of armor. You watch bullets strike them but they don't hesitate, darting forth with spears of black metal in their grasp. Impaling one of the Osjiic the pair run him back, skewering the unfortunate soldier against the wall before they dart out of the way of gunfire from the others.

One leaps nearly straight up and clings to the ceiling with a crunch of metal as fingers sink in and they pull a weapon from their clothing to fire. Nearly silent rounds strike the Osjiic before small micro-charges detonate and leave the soldier a smoldering corpse.

The Officer and the remaining soldier start to fall back, firing around the shield of the soldier as the officer reaches for a radio at their belt with fumbling hands until their voice rings out, "Contacts! We have contacts!" before shouting in pain as one of the assailants darts around the shield nimbly and stabs the officer in the thigh with another rod of black metal they pulled from a case on their back.

>>45522731There were shouts over the radio as the Osjiic try their best to hold off the relentless attackers. Falling back to a junction of hallways were flashing emergency lights finally illuminate the attacks. They were human, or they had been at some point. Now they were clearly undead, bodies reinforced with crude yet seemingly effective robotics.

The Osjiic turn down a hallway, covering their retreat with gunfire with the soldier supporting the officer and dropping their shield. Unfortunately for them they turned down a dead end but that allowed them to keep the attackers coming from one direction, the pair firing with each sighting of the undead whenever they peek around the corner.

The pair of strange undead, stinking of necrotic energy, wait at the corners of the hallways as if deciding how to gain their prize or to abandon it.

What shall your Reconstructed do? Your Shadows only have Bola Launchers with one carrying a Thumper and non-lethal smoke and knockout grenades while the Looms have shardspitters and their sting whips.

>>45522881Deploy riot gas and smoke grenades in the hall, and have 4 of our looms pin and restrain the cyborgs, allowing 2 of our shadows to shoot them down. Meanwhile the remaining loom and shadow can take out the grunt Osijic and brain drain the officer in the confusion.

>>45523202Annoyed at being denied their prize the Looms jet along the vents, narrowing themselves down so they can slither through them with short controlled bursts of their siphons. Knowing the Osjiic were likely to send reinforcements the Shadows move quickly, void light rippling from their jump-packs. Loading a smoke grenade into the Thumper the Shadow launches the projectile, smoke quickly filling the low gravity corridor.

The cyborgs react quickly to the attack, launching themselves towards where the grenade had come but Looms react even quicker. Sting whips launch out of the duct work, piercing the cyborgs and dragging them against the wall. The strong undead tried to break free, twisting and bucking with serrated blades emerging from their forearms they use to cut at the tendrils connected to the barbs piercing their bodies.

Shadows rush through the smoke, their bola launchers firing the bundles of tense wire at the undead and unfurl with a loud twang. Coiled metal wire rapidly whips out to wrap the cyborgs tight, pinning their arms to their chest.

As the cyborgs were dealt with a lone Loom slipped down from the vent above the two confused Osjiic. It falls down on the back of the officer, manipulator tentacles wrapping tightly around it's neck and face obscuring it's vision through it's helm. The flexible reconstructed lays itself firmly against the back of the officer as it angles it's shardspitters at the osjiic soldier spinning around at the shout of their commander just in time to be riddled with flechettes splattering it with potent acid. The Osjiic starts to scream as it's helm melts to it's face until a Sting Whip barb launches out then retracts to tear out it's throat.

The red cyclopean eye looms next to the Osjiics face as it pries the helm away with cluster sting whip barbs pressed against the base of it's neck. A dry voice cautions the Osjiic to be calm, your will reaching through the Loom.

>>45523554With the cyborgs restrained but still struggling and the Osjiic officer captured they quickly rush off to avoid the inevitable Osjiic reinforcements. Guiding the officer with prods to it's neck and directing with a manipulator they head for an abandoned apartment. Clothing and personal effects lay scattered around the room, likely looters or salvaging guerrillas ransacking the room.

The Cyborgs were silent yet they strained against the metal wires with surprising strength despite the shoddy looking nature of their enhancements. The officer looks wildly between the Shadows and color-changing Looms and the bound undead on the ground, ready to start demanding answers before they let out a pained gasp at the sound of drills boring into the back of their skull.

Several minutes later and Officer Ruk's memories are downloaded by the Think Tank along with the proper codes to initiate a full-scale evacuation and retreat. They learned there were a pair of Voidsingers in the hangar bay along with a contingent of nearly thirty Osjiic not counting those spread through the facility on patrols and holding strategic positions like the system defense turrets and reactor. There were Osjiic Dropships in the hangars but also transport and cargo shuttles even a corvette that had avoided dismantling by the Osjiic.

>>45523714Is the necrotic NRG powering the cyborgs different then ours? if so kill them and bring them back to the shuttle. Sound the retreat as well so we can maraud among the Civilians for test subjects.

>>45523714Full retreat of all civilians, scientists, and engineers. Have the two void singers go two.All in one ship. Have that ship go the an empty bit of space (where we will be waiting with a fuck ton of electric Crit cwals and then fill the ship with knock out gas

Or they, y'know, could have found ruins of a GALAXY-SPANNING EMPIRE OF UNDEATH and -Not- Poked a fragment of an Undying Living STAR made of MEAT whose dead body is still capable of transmitting and receiving eldritch-Hulu vids with a demi-consciousness across the galaxy.

>>45523993When we found that wraith they said we where a not corrupted peace of the worm star. That we where the first found that wasn't That implies there are parts of the star out there. The corruption could be that they are used by those not of the armada

>>45523714Now I must specify, the only FTL capable ship in the hangar is the Corvette. The dropships are sub-light craft and rely on larger ships for that. The Osjiic disabled all the ftl capable ones except for the corvette. Going from Gurn and Ruks memories the Osjiic would just bail out taking the dropships

Corrupted has other, more probable implications when dealing with a God-Thing.

Like, being fractured into so many parts and for all intents and purposes being killed, and yet it's various parts all have a pseudo-mind to them, it's possible these pseudo-minds are fucking insane, or the pieces themselves were tainted by the energy of the beings that killed the Worm-Star in the first place.

>>45524249A Shadow stoops to pick up the radio from the dead officer. Your voice issues from it's mouth but the tone drops until its the rough voice of Ruk. Satisfied the shadow brings the radio up and contacts the Osjiic base in the hangar. Listing off the appropriate codes before Ruks voice suddenly issues through every Osjiic soldiers radio.

"Attention! This is Officer Ruk ordering a full evacuation! The Dagger attack was a distraction! The guerrilla forces have planted multiple Dagger bombs through the station and are keyed to blow within the hour! Repeat I am ordering a full evacuation! All forces retreat to the hangars and escape to safe distance. These Confederate dogs have doomed themselves," the shadow drops the radio on the floor as the other two shadows perform a bit of field surgery on the cyborgs, severing connections to the cores in their chest and ripping it free.

The cyborgs shudder and collapse before a Shadow shoulders each and rushes down the halls towards the awaiting coffin. Slipping into the vents once more the Looms and remaining two shadows quickly scurry through the tight spaces as Osjiic rush to evacuate.

Passing a group of guerrillas watching through a hole in a wall one of them incredulously asks, "All we had to do was fake a bomb? Or are we really going to blow the place? Guys?" you don't bother to hear the answers as your troops make their way to the captive confederates.

The quartet of Osjiic guards hesitate, a pair arguing over the fate of the captives. One wants to put them out of their misery now while the other just wants to leave them behind. Finally a third break the fight by smacking the others and saying to save the ammunition. Once they left you hear the captives trying to pry open the doors.

>>45525094A shadow quickly hauls the doorway apart, startling the netu and human attempting to pry it open. There were several screams at the sight of the eyeless creature with color rippling across it's skin but your voice, deep and commanding silences them, "You kin have given up hope. If you desire life, follow me to the Hangar. The Osjiic have left aboard their dropships but there is still a ship remaining. Follow or not but hurry."

The two remaining Shadows motion for the hesitant confederates to follow yet it only takes several seconds before the first rush for the door to follow, spurring the rest on. True to your word your Eyegore watches as the Osjiic Dropships quickly leave the hangar bay, the sub-capitols falling back to watch the station from a safe distance.

You were almost disappointed by the lack of resistance as the Shadows guide the freed captives to the Hangar. Several of them speak of the cyborgs the special ops and PMCs used helping convince the others of your seemingly altruistic motives. The Hangar was a vast room, large enough to house several corvettes or frigates but it's only occupants were several shuttles in various states of dismantling and a Confederacy civilian corvette. Your Looms zip through the air after popping from vent ducts and startling your unsuspecting test subjects but they follow nonetheless.

The corvette is easily opened and a Shadow rushes to the cockpit with a Vorh that claimed to be a pilot. The others are guided by the Shadow in the cramped cargo hold, the Looms slipping in to cling among the netting used to secure cargo hanging above.

The Shadow lifts itself onto a crate, it's skin rippling to become the neutral bone of a normal Talon as your voice rings out, "I must thank you all for trusting me. Regrettably for you all."

>>45525115The theatrics over the Shadow drops the three riot gas grenades it had carried for it's Thumper as the Looms above fire down into the crowd with precise bursts of their shardspitter, flechettes dripping in paralytic venom.

The captives subdued in a twitching retching pile the Corvette takes off with the Shadow pressing the barbs of it's cluster sting whip against the joints in the vorhs exoskeleton. The corvette leaves the Hangar passing through the shield that held in the atmosphere.

The Osjiic ships attempt to fire but the corvettes FTL, a type of wormhole drive, had been charged and the course plotted. Joining the Coffin and Nails the ships quickly disappear into the distance heading for Horizon's Drop.

Using the largest of sub-capitol hulls, this ship has all it's offensive weapon mounts instead dedicated to resource extraction in some form or other, and much of it's sizable hold dedicated to metal processing and storage. It does however have a lone hull mount occupied by a hangar bay for easy transport of harvester coffins, and it does have auxilliary repeater cannons and shields as a last line of defence if attacked, or has to fly through particularly dense asteroid fields without a hull breach.